Presents the history of black-cast films through their posters, covering the years from 1915 to 1965 with two hundred full-color reproductions and a brief text that places the films in a social and cultural context.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The black cinema comes into the light.,
This review is from: A Separate Cinema: Fifty Years of Black-Cast Posters (Paperback)
I doubt any future book will cover the subject of black cast movie posters as well as this one. As a designer interested in the look of popular culture I was surprised that there were so many posters for this niche market. Over two-hundred are shown in this very well designed book (thanks to Debbie Glasserman) they are all in color and each has a very detailed caption. I must say though that as designs they are all uniformly uninspiring (except for Uncle Tom's Cabin, 1927 and The Green Pastures, 1936) but what they lack in stylish graphics and type they make up for in an exuberance of color, flamboyant images plus huge angled titles and cast lists, all to put across what the movie was about and pull the customer into a downtown picture palace.
Donald Bogle writes a short essay on the history of black movies but strangely makes no comment about the posters or who produced them. John Kisch, who collects black cast movie posters suggests in his Author's Note that frequently the poster artwork was more interesting than the movie itself. Get this book if you are into the graphic history of American movies, it covers one small historical part and does it very well. ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Separate Cinema - A Must!,
By Robert Cooper (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Separate Cinema: Fifty Years of Black-Cast Posters (Paperback)
The images of Black in the history of American cinema is in constant need of exploration. Too often what we are presented with are images and visions created by movie moguls and mavens that bear little resemblence to the rich vitality of Black life and culture in America. Mammies. Coons, and Sambos are omnipresent in most studies, adding a buffoonish, yet toxically inaccurate picture whenever Blacks are portrayed. Fortunately, "A Separate Cinema" is a move in the right direction of presenting an alternative view. Complete with colorful and vivid posters and information, the reader is returned to a period where such early pivotal Black auteurs as Oscar Micheaux attempt to show Black images on screen through Black eyes. Paul Robeson is shown in all of his splendor. The sauve and handsome Ralph Cooper makes his appearance. Movies that are now in the dustbin of history returns to the viewer. As a teacher of U.S. history and African-American history, "A separate Cinema" never fails to enlighten and impress my students - both Black and White. This book is a must for those willing to move beyond the stereotypical version offered by traditional hollywood accounts. It not only offers a Separate Cinema, but a separately created vision of reality. I highly recommend this book for all progressive students of American film history.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An eye-opener for every movie loving person.,
By Harold Pflug(H.J.Pflug@students.let.uu.nl) (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Separate Cinema: Fifty Years of Black-Cast Posters (Paperback)
A simple love of movie-posters has turned into a serious interest of African-American cinema. Something I never really knew about. This book showes the viewer a history in pictures about pictures mostly unseen in The Netherlands or anywhere outside the US. If you just like posters, it is unmissable. If you like film-poster history, it's unmissable. If you're interested in anything besides pure Hollywood-soaked books and paraphernalia, this book is simply a must-have. Fantastic!
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
